Star Wars’ Dave Filoni Compares The Mandalorian to The Clone Wars

Now just over a month from debuting on Disney+, The Mandalorian is making history as the […]

September 28, 2019, 5:50pm

Now just over a month from debuting on Disney+, The Mandalorian is making history as the first-ever Star Wars live-action series. Despite being the first of its kind, series producer Dave Filoni says the Jon Favreau-created show isn’t unlike the animated Star Wars series released through other platforms. In a recent interview with IGN, Filoni says the show even borrowed some of the production processes of The Clone Wars.

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“I would liken it in some ways to what I was doing with George on The Clone Wars, where now through digital technology you can visualize scenes and sequences earlier,” the producer says. “In animation, we call it a previs and it was a natural fit for me in this process because it did have these digital elements, but some of it when we were shooting was really brand new technology.”

The Mandalorian will also be the first major series release on Disney’s brand new direct-to-consumer service, which will see the House of Mouse dumping unprecedented amounts of cash into it. Because of that, Filoni revealed the series will use “game engine technology, virtual camera work, and virtual production.”

“And that also was good for me because I didn’t have any preconceived notion about how anything should be done,” said Filoni. “I was learning the process with all the new technology… And there’s a strong animation component in the way that we visualize some of the things early on in the virtual blocking… It’s one of the reasons why Kathy [Kennedy] thought this would be a great connection for me. Not just because I knew Jon, but I had some insights into the technology.”

The series also heavily features practical effects like puppetry, animatronics, and makeup in an affort to “recapture the classic spririt” of George Lucas’ original trilogy, per reports.

Created by Favreau and produced by Filoni, Kennedy, and Colin Wilson, The Mandalorian starsPedro Pascal (Game of Thrones, Kingsman: The Golden Circle) in the titular role. He will be joined by actors Gina Carano (Deadpool, Fast & Furious 6), Carl Weathers (Rocky, Predator), Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad, The Jungle Book), Nick Nolte (48 Hrs., Warrior), and Werner Herzog (Jack Reacher, Metalocalypse).